[L]eaders of both parties . . . should also think
about the path of state finances. The prospects should unnerve Democrats, in
particular: The 26 states that Obama carried in November tended overwhelmingly
to have lower credit ratings than the 24 where he lost. The most obvious examples are California and Illinois, two
big states that are deep-blue politically and deep in the red fiscally.

Aside from credit ratings, how are the blue states doing versus the red states in economic performance?

Checking in on Illinois, we find that efforts to get some control over the worst-funded pension system in the country are going nowhere:. Again, from Bloomberg News:

Illinois
lawmakers missed another chance to restructure the worst-funded state retirement
system in the nation, officially ending their 2012 session yesterday without
acting on measures to shore up pensions. In failing to deal with a $97 billion unfunded liability that rises by $17
million each day, Illinois risks more downgrades from bond-rating companies,
which have urged the state to stem the ballooning deficits.

Meanwhile, down in low tax (and no income tax) Texas, the New York Times on January 8 finds that their big problem is how to deal with a suddenly emerging $8.8 billion budget surplus:

A boom in revenues from sales taxes as well as taxes from oil
and natural gas production have given Texas a budget surplus that the state
comptroller has estimated at $8.8 billion.

As for California, it's too early to see how the big income tax increases are going to affect things. My prediction: badly.